Wuhan 1818 mall has recently opened in China, delivering a new generation retail and lifestyle centre set to energise the precinct’s urban core.
The 70,000 sqm, seven storey mall was developed by CapitaMalls Asia and caters to the needs of the 2.4 million people living and working in the district. It provides a diverse range of quality lifestyle, food and entertainment tenancies, anchored by rooftop cinemas and a basement supermarket and car parking.
“The project opens at a dynamic point in space and time for Wuhan, coinciding with a period of unprecedented change,” said Buchan Group principal, David Macleod.
“Our design for the centre fits well with the contemporary facelift of the district as Wuhan rapidly evolves into a Future City.”
The design for the development was inspired by the unique cultural catchment and captures the essence of its past, whilst responding to evolving retail trends of the future.
“We felt both a responsibility to be respectful of Wuhan’s history and culture in our design, but to look to its future,” said Macleod. “We felt a need to embrace the needs and aspirations of the new modern urban community.”
The interior design concept for the mall expresses aspects of this dynamic through restrained organic patterns crowned by splashes of vibrant colour and dappled light effects. The prominent podium facade creates an impressive street-edge to the integrated office and residential mixed use precinct, and adds an impressive addition to the quality development portfolio of The Buchan Group and CapitaMalls Asia.
The centre’s planning was engineered to ensure the mall performs a civic function as an urban meeting place for the local community, encouraging social connections and redefining the art of placemaking in the district. This informed the predominance of formal and informal food and entertainment spaces in the planning and tenancy mix.
The Buchan Group provided integrated design and delivery services for this ambitious project, including facade and interior architecture, interior design and graphic and wayfinding design services from concept design through to construction site services.